In recent years there has been increased development in equipment and techniques for farming without generally tilling the entire surface of a field. These no-till farming techniques generally rely upon a disk type soil opener to break the surface of the soil in a localized area so that seed, fertilizer, and other agricultural chemicals can be placed directly in the soil without over generally plowing or breaking up the upper topsoil as is commonly done. When disk type soil openers are used, it is necessary for the disk to penetrate into the soil to open a furrow into which the seed or other materials are placed. Because the field has generally not been cultivated, there is usually straw or other types of stubble and debris remaining from the previous year's crop. This straw and other debris substantially impedes the efficient opening of the soil by disk soil openers. The disk opener oftentimes rides up on large clumps of straw, thereby preventing the soil from being opened. When farmers encounter difficulty in opening the soil, they must slow the speed of the equipment or add additional weight. This takes longer for the work to be completed and requires greater fuel because of the additional weight which is pulled.
No-till farming has also suffered from difficulties caused by straw being tucked into the furrow by the soil opener. Other rotting debris and residue are also found on the soil and the soil opener also tends to turn this into the soil as the furrow is opened. The straw residue and rotting debris add to the problems associated with various plant diseases including the disease pythium. Debris in the furrow also inhibits good seed germination and seeding emergence.
The prior art includes an apparatus called a "duff scuffer" which slid along the ground in front of the soil openers. Duff scuffers suffered from several limitations. The duff scuffers could only be used with rows having a spacing for which they were designed, such as the common fifteen inch spacing. The duff scuffers also did not remove the straw and debris as effectively as the current invention.
This invention is not to be confused with harrow attachments which are mounted on seed drills. U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,929 to Robert B. Gates shows a harrow tooth attachment which extends downwardly from the seed drill frame and penetrates into the soil a few feet ahead of the disk soil opener so that the soil is cultivated shortly before seeding takes place.
The invention is directed to solving the problems discussed above and other objectives and benefits of the invention will be considered below or are inherent in the structure and function of the invention.